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man - this is such a pretty-looking knife. i'm shocked no one has bought it yet. maybe if you put a serial number on it to make it appear more limited/rare, it would tug at collectors' heart-strings. Trust me, if I had the $$, I'd be all over it.

Can I ask what about your steel choice? I consider myself pleasantly stupid when it comes to steel. From what I understand knifemakers add 15n20 because of the nickel content adds contrast in damascus blades. I have seen it added with O-1 and 52100. What is the advantage of the 1085/15n20 combo?

k.

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States...nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” -- Isaac Asimov

Yeah no worries K. They are both simple carbon steels. Apart from the 2% nickel in 15n20 which provides the contrast. For me they provide a perfect balance of hardness with toughness for a thin edged knife. I like using them because as you rightly say they provide good contrast. They are relatively simple to heat treat and temper and I am most familiar with the ht of these particular steels. I have used them in razors, they are capable of good hardness, around 63hrc. I take my knives to a shade under 60 hrc, 58-60, (a 60hrc hardness file just starts to bite) and at this hardness they take a superb edge, very easy to sharpen, whilst remaining very tough. I have destruction tested edges at this hardness by pushing onto the edge with a brass rod. They take superb flex on a thin edge, I have to apply a great deal of weight on the edge to flex it enough to distort, they do not chip out at this hardness. For me this is preferable to having something prone to forming chips and micro chips during heavy use.
So whilst being very straight forward, with good ht, they are an excellent combo.
In terms of edge holding, I tend to give mine a lick or 2 on a leather strop with compound before use and rarely touch the stones with them. Sachem Allison reports his petty will go a good week with hard daily use before requiring a touch on a 6K stone.
I find this combo very reactive at first, when allowed to form a nice subtle blue patina, (I like to use them on meat to start off with) they become quite stable.
Hope that helps,
Will

I really like everything that I've seen and read so far. I also like the handle proportion and, having big paws myself, appreciate that you kept the handle ful-sized even though the blade is smaller than what may be considered "full."

I also like your approach of trying to balance blade thickness, stability and convexity with thinness. Lastly, i like that you didn't go crazy with hardness#. Overall, it seems like you took a very well measured,thoughtful approach.

My only question is on blade flex: how flexy is it? Some lateral flex out towards the last 1/3 isnt bad/ can be useful, but torsional flex always bothers me. when you where doing the long cuts on the carrots, I count tell if the carrots where just rolling and giving you difficulties or if the blade was also twisting a bit.

Hello Justin. Thanks very much for the positive feedback. On stability, there is a little flex on the last 1/3rd of the blade. The taper is very even and progressive. So although it is not a plank the flex is nicely controlled. I would say under the weight of the blade alone the tip moves about 1mm when rested between handle and tip.
I can't detect any twist on it , due to still having a little meat in the middle of the blade giving strength as well as a little convexity.
I should add that I will have my etching set up sorted in a week or so. I should be able to add my makers mark and serial number 001 to this as the etch on the damascus is fairly light. (I'll test it first on a similar billet) Also ,I think I should call this a 240mm Suji rather than a petty.